


Warm Hay and Sunshine

by Opulence, Tigerine (sealink)



Series: Chicken Soup for the Levi Squad's Soul [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Comfort No Hurt, Fluff, Gen, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-31
Updated: 2013-08-31
Packaged: 2017-12-25 04:46:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/948783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Opulence/pseuds/Opulence, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sealink/pseuds/Tigerine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi has a secret in the barn that no one can know about. </p><p>No ships, no smut, just fluff. If you're having some Episode 21 feels, come on in. We got you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Warm Hay and Sunshine

Levi carried the teacup out concealed under his palm, avoiding the eyes of anyone he passed.  Another packet he held gingerly between finger and thumb. It twisted as it dangled and left behind a curiously rank scent. _If I get caught at this, I’ll never live it down._

He did his level best to not look suspicious as he walked out of the kitchen in the rear of the castle the Survey Corps occupied these days. It wasn’t easy. The entirety of the grounds was crawling with soldiers. Luckily, the stables of Levi’s squad were set apart from the large barn that sheltered the horses of the Corps detachment stationed at HQ.

The doors at the end of the stables were open, and Levi didn’t waste time loitering, slipping in around a wheelbarrow full of manure. He scanned the stables quickly. _No stable hands, no one else in the Corps_. With a final, furtive look around, he made his way over to the ladder that went up into the hayloft. With one hand, he slung the smelly packet up into the straw, wrinkling his nose. Now for the cup.

Levi was not an especially tall man. He’d been fortunate that where he’d lost in the height lottery, he’d won in the physical fitness lottery.  Kicking one leg up onto a rung at hip height, he bounced once, twice and then lunged up, grabbing hold of a rung of the ladder. That had gotten him nearly two-thirds up the ladder. The last part took patience and time, and the entire time, he kept his ears pricked to hear anyone approaching.

Thankfully, no one did. His secret was safe. 

He found the odiferous packet first, curling his lip at the smell, and then went down to the other end of the hay loft. Hidden back in a pile of hay, there was a rustling.

Levi looked over his shoulder one last time and then blew kisses into the air.

“Mrrr?” A round-faced black and white cat stepped out of a pile of hay, stretching.

Levi’s brow relaxed and his mouth split in a smile. “You’re here,” he said. _As if the cat can understand you._

First things first. The packet. “Ugh, that’s foul,” he grumbled, smelling his fingers and nearly passing out. “Thank God I’m not a cat.”

He unfolded it carefully to avoid splashing any of the oils on his clothing. The salted trout was still wet where he had cleaned the salt off. “Sorry, this is all we’ve got right now,” he murmured to the cat, gently resting his hand on the back of her neck and not-so-subtly wiping the fish smell off on her coat.  He slid the teacup over to her as well, a bit of cream he’d secreted away in Eren’s unused coffee cup. 

She purred loudly as he stroked her back. It rattled loudly, sounding as if something had come loose inside the cat, but she happily inhaled the small filet of trout and then stuck her round face in the teacup.

Levi watched her eat. It was a simple pleasure for him. He saw… _so much_ happen. Feeding a cat occasionally (okay, twice a week) in addition to her diet of field mice kept her fit and healthy. “Just, don’t forget about the mice,” he said, his fingertips threading through her fur. She lifted her haunches, her tail sticking straight up in the air, except for the very tip, which fell over in kind of a question mark.

Levi stood, and slid his feet through the hay over to the pile of hay the cat had emerged from.  “And over here?”

“Mrrr,” the cat responded, grabbing one more mouthful of fish and then trotting over to the haystack. He crouched and used his hands to gently push through the hay. The cat called, and near the back of the hay pile, Levi heard a small answering mew.

He scooted around the hay pile and found them. She’d made a good nest for them, hidden back in a pile of hay between the studs of the barn wall. Another mew issued forth, and mother cat trilled and chirped, stepping into the nest carefully. The small kittens, round balls of black and white fur, nosed her belly and settled in to nurse.

Levi was happy to watch them nurse. It filled him with a sense of normalcy, of rightness about the world. _This is what should be_.  The mother cat rumbled contentment, and Levi inched his hand toward her. He didn’t want to startle her or she might move the kittens.  She meowed again and he pulled his hand back. He could wait a while to pet them.  He had time. 


End file.
